16 Comments

My InterpretationI didn't interpret this as being metaphorical. I think he spends the night with the prostitute not because he's horny, but because he's lonely.

"and now outside you see the waves in her eyes
and I, I won't mind what you decide to swear by"

"and now outside I see your eyes meet the sky
and I, I don't mind what you decide to swear by"

These lines seem to depict a certain sense of admiration because he finds this woman to be beautiful. When he says, "I don't mind what you decide to swear by," he is saying that he doesn't care what she thinks. Even if to her, he is just another customer, his experience is much deeper than that.

"and I, I won't lie, I kept you here tonight"

This line could mean a couple different things. For one, it could be his admission that although he feels a connection with her, she has no reason to be with him tonight besides money. But the way I first thought of it was that she stayed the whole night. She was going to leave to either go to sleep or find another customer or whatever prostitutes do, but he wanted to sleep with her. And I mean, actually sleep. After the sex. He wants this because he feels alone and being with a beautiful woman, he feels connected to someone. And it's important to him. He loves this woman. And not in the way that you love a friend or girlfriend or boyfriend or spouse or family member. It's just a sort of adoration and thankfulness for making him feel less alone, if only for the night.

"We believed her then"
I think it implies something of a profound loneliness in which one becomes very aware and converses with the "self". The 'we' is rhetorical. There is this void within one's self that echoes only one's thoughts. The very depths of despair. And he sought a prostitute believing it would cure what ails him.

"and now outside you see the waves in her eyes"
She is what he had hoped she was and he is reminded of her

"and now outside, I see your eyes meet the sky"
And he is filled with hope

"and I, I won't lie, I kept you here tonight"
He acknowledges his actions .

General CommentFor me, maybe because I'm hearing this song in the midst of a certain situation, and I'm putting the song into that context (...well, I guess that's what we all tend to do), the prostitute is Love. And that Love is sort of fantastical and magic, but you let yourself believe that it is real. And even when you maybe start to realize that it won't work out after all, youo still cling to it, wanting to believe in it still. If you have doubt, Love tells you, "I swear on ___ (the Bible, my mother's life, etc.)"; you want to believe so badly that you just believe, without requiring any particular form of validation. You just wanted this Love to be real, to work out, but it won't. Maybe it was just a hired imitation and you fooled yourself into thinking it could be something else. But you believed Her.

General CommentPersonally want to be able to listen to or see or read something and feel something and not know why. I love this song and I really think you have to find your own meaning, if zach condon wanted us to feel something specific the lyrics would be obvious.

General CommentThe artist should be listed as "Real People". This album is technically a split of Zachary Condon's two projects; Beirut - his indie/world project, and Real People - his electronic project he started doing when he was much, much younger.